A variety of methods for collecting medical information within a human body have been developed.
In general, an endoscope has been used for a method for collecting image information within the human body. Endoscope captures inside the body and then transmits the captured image to an external device via a communication cable, such as conducting wires and optical fibers. However, if such cable is used in endoscope, even after the endoscope is inserted inside the body, the cable still remains in the mouth (oral cavity), thereby causing a great pain to a patient. In addition, the cable should be manipulated to adjust a region for image capture, thereby causing various side effects, such as damage in the internal organs inside the body, and the like.
In order to solve such problems, Given Imaging Ltd., an Israel-based company has recently developed a capsule-type endoscope, called the “PillCam.” If this capsule-type endoscope is swallowed by a patient, similar to a pill, it may transmit image (data) related to the inside of the human body captured by an endoscope camera to an external receiver and thus to implement such image (data) on a monitor.
However, the capsule-type endoscope developed by Given Imaging Ltd., can only capture images, thereby being unsuitable for collecting a variety of information related to the inside of the body. In particular, the capsule-type endoscope developed by Given Imaging Ltd., is very expensive, but information obtained by the endoscope is limited only to the image related to the inside of the body. Accordingly, in order to collect information related to various materials (hormones, or digestive juices) secreted in the internal organs within the body, there is a need to implement another method (or procedure).